[PaulineH]

Hi Guys, I know this has been covered many times before on here but amy advice anyone could share with me would be very much appreciated..
Right story goes, been in a contract with a company for 8 months now they have 2 buildings i'm cleaning in 1 of them,there other building is been cleaned by another cleaning company but standards were'nt good at all so they decided 6 months ago to tell them they were'nt re-newing the contract when it runs out at the beg of July. I knew all this and was told i'd be offered the 2nd building at the end of the contract.
Now the other cleaning company has contacted them today saying i must take on there employee under TUPE.
I know it's a complete minefield with lots of grey areas and i've had advice from the FSB but i'm still abit confused As far as i can see i'm the only person who could quite possibly loose out in this situation.
From what i've read etc i would become responsible for any outstanding monies that the employee is owed and she would have to stay under her present contract and terms and conditions,ie; i can't change her contract or ask her to do something which isn't already listed on her contract (do i have this right)
I have contacted her present employer to ask for details of her ie;contract,terms&conditions,pay holiday entitlement etc,should i do anything else? I can see many a sleepless night ahead!!!! 

[cleaning-team]

Hi Guys, I know this has been covered many times before on here but amy advice anyone could share with me would be very much appreciated..
Right story goes, been in a contract with a company for 8 months now they have 2 buildings i'm cleaning in 1 of them,there other building is been cleaned by another cleaning company but standards were'nt good at all so they decided 6 months ago to tell them they were'nt re-newing the contract when it runs out at the beg of July. I knew all this and was told i'd be offered the 2nd building at the end of the contract.
Now the other cleaning company has contacted them today saying i must take on there employee under TUPE.
I know it's a complete minefield with lots of grey areas and i've had advice from the FSB but i'm still abit confused As far as i can see i'm the only person who could quite possibly loose out in this situation.
From what i've read etc i would become responsible for any outstanding monies that the employee is owed and she would have to stay under her present contract and terms and conditions,ie; i can't change her contract or ask her to do something which isn't already listed on her contract (do i have this right)
I have contacted her present employer to ask for details of her ie;contract,terms&conditions,pay holiday entitlement etc,should i do anything else? I can see many a sleepless night ahead!!!! 

I don't think you would be responsible for any outstanding monies which are owed before you take on the contract but you cannot alter her working conditions so she loses out i.e. you can increase her rate of pay but not decrease it etc. As for asking her to do things not on her contract it depends what you mean - if you mean ask her to work somewhere else for example then you cannot force her to but if it is clean something in the current location which was not previously cleaned then you can.

Potentially you can lose out under TUPE but it is often the management and lack of supervision which causes cleaning issues so as long as you can invest the time in managing the employee and ensuring she works to your standards then you should be OK. It is worth pointing out that is one way of losing employees under TUPE - take them on as per the law. keep their benefits etc the same but supervise and manage them to your standards at which time if they are not up to scratch most either leave or go onto performance management whereby you can get rid of them but it does take time.

Assuming the other company has been notified they will not be getting the renewal the other piece of advice I would give you is to go and talk to the cleaner in question and see how she feels about moving over as she may not want to plus it will give you a chance to meet her and have a chat about what you expect and how you work etc. Often the cleaners themselves do not know the contract has been lost and talking to them and respecting them as employees is a great way to build a rapport and get the relationship off to a good start.

If you need any more help then ACAS can be a decent source of information or talk to a solicitor who specialises in employment law - most will give you an initial 30 minute consultation FOC.

[Pristine Clean]

Thats good advice from Clean - team.

You have to have a notice period for the transfer. Once the transfer is in place there is also a rule about the notification period. This does vary. From 30 - 90 DAYS.

If and when they have agreed the price with you and you have asked to see the contract of employment they must send it within 14 days or face a penalty of £500.

You can manage her any way you like. You can make them perform better if the standards are not correct then you have to set out proof of training, manuals, time spent with her.... before you can go down the road of dismisal on the grounds of poor performance..

And as clean-teram said if the cleaner is of poor standard its generally down to lack of management and training - sometimes you do get a bad egg.

Its not that bad.

Dave

[PaulineH]

Thanks for the replies , and a big thank-you to Dianne Greenwood who took time out of her busy day to explain things in plain english,now i don't feel as anxious about the whole situation...Pauline

[dianegreenwood]

you're welcome 

[Nick W]

Hi Pauline

some good advice already posted - if you need more info I have a TUPE page ony my website (see link below). It was written by my solicitor so it is well informed. The TUPE info on my website is accessed by clicking the TUPE link on the FAQs page.

Nick
http://www.Kentcleaningsolutions.co.uk

[Powerwasher]

There is some fantastic advice on this forum but when it comes to TUPE dont mess about....call ACAS and speak to someone one to one, they are very nice people....